Airtel Records Rare Sequential ARPU Decline
Bharti Airtel reported a sequential dip in its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) to ₹257 for the fourth quarter of FY26, down from ₹259 in the preceding quarter. While management noted that two fewer days in the quarter slightly skewed the results, the stagnant trend has triggered concerns over the telecom sector’s monetization capability.
Airtel Executive Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal addressed the issue, calling the current telecom pricing model in India “broken.” He argued that the market’s heavy reliance on “unlimited” 5G data bundles caps revenue yields, making it difficult to generate a healthy return on the massive capital invested in building out 5G network infrastructure.
Strategic Shift Toward Tiered Pricing and Network Slicing
To combat this stagnation, Airtel is advocating for a transition toward a usage-based tiered pricing architecture, where premium data consumption is charged at higher rates. Additionally, the company is rolling out “Priority Postpaid” services powered by 5G network slicing. This technology allows Airtel to allocate dedicated network bandwidth to premium users, establishing a foundation to monetize high-speed connectivity.
